Steven Runo facts for kids

Steven Runo is a brilliant scientist from Kenya. He is a professor at Kenyatta University. Professor Runo studies plant diseases that harm important food crops in Africa. He is especially known for his work on a harmful plant called Striga, also known as witchweed. In 2020, he received the Royal Society Africa Prize for his amazing research.

Steven Runo's Early Life and Education

Steven Runo was born in Kenya. He went to Kenyatta University for all his college degrees. He earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees there. For some of his doctoral research, he traveled to the United States. He worked at the University of California, Davis. There, he started studying how plants communicate over long distances using tiny molecules called RNA. He first looked at how a parasitic plant called Cuscuta talks to tomato plants.

Research and Career

In 2008, Professor Runo came back to Africa. He became a professor at Kenyatta University. He has also been a visiting scientist at the University of Sheffield and University of Virginia. His main work is finding ways to stop plant diseases that threaten farming in Africa.

Fighting the "Cereal Killer"

One of the biggest problems he studies is witchweed (Striga). This is a parasitic plant that attacks important food crops like maize and sorghum. Professor Runo calls Striga the "cereal killer" because it can destroy entire fields.

Striga causes huge losses for farmers. It can cost up to $200 million every year. Each Striga plant can make up to 500,000 seeds. These tiny seeds spread easily by wind and water. They can quickly grow and harm crops.

Professor Runo has suggested several ways to fight Striga:

• Finding ways to stop the seeds from growing.
• Making crops stronger so they can resist Striga attacks.
• Reducing the number of Striga seeds in the soil.

He explores using special chemicals to stop Striga seeds from sprouting. He also studies how plant genes can make crops resistant to this parasite. To do this, he looks at how RNA molecules move between parasitic plants and the crops they attack.

Helping Crops Survive Drought

Professor Runo is also part of a project called GEMADOT. This project aims to find and create maize plants that can survive dry weather. This is very important for preventing food shortages in Africa.

Awards and Recognition

In 2020, Professor Runo was honored with the Royal Society Africa Prize. He received this award for his work on how RNA travels between parasitic plants and their hosts. He was also recognized for finding and developing ways to study genes that help crops and parasites.